The present invention relates to a continuous casting plant for the casting of an ingot having a cross section of a slab or of ingots of smaller cross section, having a plate mold for the casting of an ingot of the cross section of slab, the wall of the wide and narrow sides of which are supported as a first structural unit on a mold support structure, said first structural unit being removable from the mold support structure for the casting of ingots of smaller cross sections and replaceable by a second structural unit having molds of smaller cross section.
In order to be able to use a continuous casting plant as universally as possible, it is desirable to be able to cast ingots of difference cross-sectional formats on one and the same continuous casting plant. For instance, it is desirable to be able to use a continuous casting plant for the casting of ingots having the cross-sectional format of a slab also for the casting of ingots having the cross section of a billet or bloom. Numerous solutions are known in order to achieve this.
From AT-B-233.187 it is known to use one or more additional narrow-side intermediate walls between the narrow side walls of a mold for a slab cross-sectional format so that two or more ingots of smaller cross section lying alongside of each other can be cast simultaneously with the mold dimensioned for a slab cross-sectional format. One problem in this connection, however, is represented by the fastening of the narrow-side intermediate walls which are additionally clamped between the wide-side walls and providing them with coolant, for which no solution is given in AT-B-233.187.
From Federal Republic of Germany B -2 003 787 an attachment is known for the additional narrow-side intermediate walls, in accordance with which a stationary intermediate partition wall is provided between the wide side walls and fastened to the wide-side walls. Plates of adjustable inclination are articulated on both sides to this stationary intermediate wall.
This construction has the disadvantage that the space required for the intermediate wall which is fastened to the wide-side walls is reduced and thereby the usable cross sections of the mold is reduced. Another disadvantage is that the adjustable attachment of the plates to the stationary intermediate wall requires structural parts which extend above and below the upper and lower edges respectively of the mold, so that, on the one hand, the upper covering of the mold must be provided at a greater distance away than customary, as a result of which the visibility into the mold is impaired and, on the other hand, end rollers cannot be placed directly on the lower end of the mold, as a result of which there is the danger of bulging of the ingot in the case of high casting output.
A construction similar to the continuous casting mold described in Federal Republic of Germany B 2 003 787 is known from Federal Republic of Germany A 41 32 186. In that case also, narrow-side intermediate walls can be inserted between the wide-side walls having structural parts which extend above the top of the mold.
From Federal Republic of Germany A 1 508 971 it is known to replace all the molds for the optional production of slabs and billets. This means that all supply lines must be interrupted and disconnected and then connected again after the replacement of the mold. Furthermore, work for the adjusting and readjustment of the molds is thus necessary.
From AT-B-373.516 a continuous casting plant of the type described above is known in which several ingots of smaller diameter are in a continuous slab casting plant. The wide-side walls of the continuous casting mold used here are developed identically, except for the copper plates which are arranged on the inner side, to the wide-side walls of a continuous casting plant for the casting of an ingot having slab cross section. The copper plates of the wide-side walls are divided in the longitudinal direction of the ingot by at least one recess between the narrow-side walls at the end, the intermediate narrow-side walls being inserted into the recesses. This construction results in an optimum utilization of the space.